By Tara Wentworth

Do you believe that everything works together for good for those who love God? If you are not that familiar with the scriptures, you may not be aware that this is a partial quote from Romans 8:28. The full verse states: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

That is a pretty radical statement to say that everything works for our good if we love God. It does not say that the circumstance itself is necessarily good because some things are not good and some things are even tragic.

I was talking to a friend of mine this past week and she said she thought she had an “8:28 moment” (Romans 8:28) last weekend. She has been living her life as a newer believer in front of her beloved husband for the past three years without saying much of anything directly to him about what was happening to her. Last weekend she and her husband were out riding bicycles in their neighborhood. A lady was walking her dog without it being on a leash (there were leash laws in place). The dog darted in front of my friend who naturally braked to keep from hitting the very small dog. Her husband was caught off guard and ran into her, throwing her off of her bike and onto the pavement, and he flew over the handlebars and into a fence. Both of them were injured as well as startled.

The lady never said anything and never took the blame. My friend (who can be very opinionated and strong in her reactions) calmly said to the lady, “You know there is a leash law in this community.” The lady never apologized and did not even have a leash for the dog. They got home and dressed their wounds and then her husband started to cry (very unlike him). He was so touched by her restrained reaction and said so. He then asked her, “Can you teach me how to read the Bible?” He had been watching her change right before his eyes for three years and he must have liked what was happening to her! That is an 8:28 moment! They suffered the consequences of someone else’s wrong actions, but the Lord turned it around and used it to create an opportunity for her to demonstrate what God had been doing in her life. She told me her first thoughts after she was thrown off the bike were – how would Jesus respond to this situation? Oh my goodness – I am not sure I would have had those same thoughts! But her reaction not only affected her husband but also me (and another friend who was also in that three-way conversation).

Are you thinking of a circumstance in your life that happened and your first reaction was not to see how God was going to use it for your good? Perhaps you became unthankful or angry or blamed someone else (even God). I have looked back in hindsight and seen how God has used a difficult circumstance to be the catalyst to turn someone’s life toward Himself. I have had numerous experiences that were not in and of themselves good or something that I wanted to happen in my life but I certainly can see how the Lord has used those circumstances to bring about good. We can be a testimony wherever we go and in whatever circumstances we may find ourselves in. When people see you come through a difficult circumstance with the peace of God and the joy of the Lord, they notice. I am not sure how you come through some of these adverse circumstances with peace and joy without believing that “everything works together for good.”

For me, when adverse circumstances happen, I have a choice to make. I have to realize that most things that happen may have temporary effects on my life but very few of them have long-term consequences. Even if they are long-term, life-altering natural circumstances, rarely are they something that will not end even if it is at the time you transition from this life to the next. That is why I adopted the question I ask myself often – “What does this matter in the light of eternity?” In other words, in almost everything that happens to us in this life, Paul calls “temporary, light afflictions.” He had tasted of the heavenly realm enough to assure others that what we have to look forward to has an “eternal weight of glory” that far surpasses anything we will ever experience on this Earth. Paul experienced many negative things for the sake of the gospel including being stoned (to death then raised), shipwrecked, and beaten with 49 lashes, so he was not speaking just of others who experienced these things, but what he experienced himself. “For our momentary, light affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient (temporary), but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)

The problem lies in the fact that many of us do not live from that eternal perspective. Most of us are just trying to get through our days and weeks in our natural life circumstances. We may attend church and even have a regular devotional time but to live with eternity on our minds regularly is a challenge for most of us. I certainly have had seasons where I am more focused on eternal things than other times where I find myself caught up in my particular circumstances. It is easier for me to ask the question (what does it matter in the light of eternity?) if it is an adverse situation but I have been trying to cultivate a daily habit of focusing on the fact that I am seated together in heavenly places with Christ Jesus now. (Ephesians 2:6) I think most of us think that our position with Him is reserved only for the future when the fullness of the manifestation of His Kingdom rule and reign will happen. I have asked the Lord to help me to not only believe what the scriptures teach but to live from that perspective. I confess that I am not as far along on this part of my journey as I would like to be. But, like Paul, I want to press towards that goal – “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal, for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)